He may be best known for his hilarious roles in the NBC television series ‘The Office’ and the blockbuster movie franchise ‘The Hangover,’ but actor Ed Helms is no one-trick pony. After more than two decades with his band, Ed Helms & the Lonesome Trio, the star has decided to move forward in his music career, making preparations for his first full-length bluegrass album.

“We’ve been laying down some demos and kicking them back and forth,” Helms tells the Hollywood Reporter. “We’ve been been playing together so long, we have so many original tunes. We’ve made recordings for friends and family for years but we’ve never done a proper album.”

Helms gave no immediate details on the upcoming album, but did offer some insight on the sonic direction of his first musical project. ”I have a very liberal interpretation of the word ‘bluegrass,’” he shared, citing the Del McCoury Band, Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch and the Punch Brothers as inspirations.

“The purists would say it’s only this traditional high lonesome sound and that is all stuff we celebrate. But to us, it’s anything that feels like a legitimate offspring form,” he adds. “That universe could be Mumford & Sons, the Decemberists and Old Crow Medicine Show.”

No details about an album title or release date have been released yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

Watch Ed Helms Play Bluegrass

 

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